LSU reimbursing students affected by fast food scam

BATON ROUGE - LSU Police arrested four fast food workers recently in connection with a scheme to overcharge university students who paid for meals at the student union McDonald's with a school-issued card.

Investigators said records showed at least $31,000 in overcharges were made while the scheme went on, possibly back to when the card payment system was first instituted in 2010. LSU sent an email out to students whose records indicated they were overcharged, which said their account would be reimbursed by the university on or before March 28.

This week LSU Police arrested Jeannine A. Rooks, 34; Constance Lacole Brown, 31; Bertrand Lawrence Brown, 34; and Danielle Marie Casey, 23, all on suspicion of theft. At least two other employees had been given citations for theft during the investigation, which began in October 2013.

According to arrest records, LSU Police first learned of the scam last October after a tip from a Facility Services worker. Police said they discovered that the amount being charges to students' LSU Tiger Cards through the Paw Points system was higher than the amount at the register.

In October records showed investigators met with a manager at the store, Latoya Scott, who admitted she participated in the scam. Police said Scott told them a cashier would ring up the correct amount on their cashier, then ring up a different amount on a separate machine that processed the Tiger Cards. The cashier would not give the student the receipt from the Paw Points machine, and at the end of the shift money to match the overcharge was removed from the register, and a manager who was in on the scheme would fix the paperwork to balance out the register.

Police issued Scott a summons and released her, then contacted McDonald's for complete register records. Investigators said the company could only give them records back to March 19, 2013, but those were enough to show overcharges worth more than $31,000 had been made.

The companies which operate the union food court and the McDonald's location said the employees involved have been terminated. Valluzzo Companies, which owns the McDonald's at LSU, said they also changed procedures so students always receive two receipts when using Paw Points.

Students who think they were affected can get more information by clicking here.